Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Forty-two dog years in gaming

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days — Street War

I don't think any of us really expected Kane & Lynch 2 to happen after the reception of the first one, but the studio bought into doing a mission pack for the first game, and off we went. Deadlines were extended, scopes changed, and unexpectedly a mission pack effort evolved into a AAA game effort.

Kane & Lynch 2 is a very different animal; for one it eschews the epic storyline and great tragedy for something much more intimate. What stands out was how unbelievable it was to see how far the game engine could be pushed to create the YouTube aesthetics—courtesy of that boy-wonder Rasmus again—it so perfectly executed.

I brought this level from concept to shipping, and it was a lot of fun to work on since it did exactly what the game was good at (and intended for) with both gameplay and setting.

A buddy of mine, Martin, and I did the temp voice-overs for the entire game, I played Lynch. Lots of shouting and cursing; not a bad way to get rid of some late-night tension. I'm sure there are still a line or two of ours left in there. The real voice actors for Kane and Lynch were outstanding; truly some of the best I've heard, and they shone in Dog Days.

Finally I built the infamous 'Naked in Neon' level, where the eponymous couple escape captivity and battle their way, naked and bloodied, through Shanghai streets. The core concept was fun, but the whole was a pain to execute since we had no stealth mechanics to speak of and few programmers to spare.

The Burger restaurant shoot-out came out great, especially with the dogs (yeah, we had dogs before it was modern) albeit it's all a little too short.

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All told, I had a great time in the games industry, it was challenging as hell at times, but I learned more than I could ever have hoped for. I'm also happy to be out.